USA

Golden beaches, misty redwoods, vineyard-covered hills and granite cliffs – California is a place of dazzling contrasts. This road trip sweeps from the rainbow streets of San Francisco to the sunlit calm of Santa Barbara and the buzz of LA, through national parks, wine country and along one of the world’s most scenic coastlines, where surf crashes below cypress trees and desert skies melt into cinematic dusk. 

Soaring peaks, sun-dappled vineyards and forest trails thick with ancient redwoods – this Northern California journey blends big-city buzz with wide-open wonder. San Francisco shimmers with painted hills and salt-air vistas, while Yosemite’s granite domes rise above waterfalls and still pine forests. At Lake Tahoe, alpine waters catch the light like cut glass, and in Napa, the scent of oak barrels drifts through golden-valley afternoons. This is a journey of natural grandeur and slow pleasures, where every stop lingers like a scene from a film. 

From desert stillness and canyon grandeur to the electric flicker of big city lights, this journey weaves a vivid arc across the American Southwest. Saguaros stand sentinel beneath endless skies, red rock spires blaze in shifting light and the Grand Canyon’s vast chasm stirs quiet awe. Along the fabled highway of Route 66, small towns hum with nostalgia before the road spills into the radiant spectacle of Las Vegas – where the desert night feels alive with possibility.

Salt Lake City rises beneath a canvas of mountains, its domes and spires reflected in tranquil waters, before the open desert unfurls, red rocks and sandstone fins carving a labyrinth of light and shadow around Moab. Towering hoodoos at Bryce, sprawling canyons at Zion and the sinuous sweep of Highway 24 chart a panorama of geological marvels that invite hushed reverie. Route-bound towns whisper of pioneer days and roadside charm, and finally, the neon pulse of Las Vegas crowns the journey. 

Puget Sound glimmers beneath white-tipped peaks, where ferries follow silver paths across glassy waters and the city’s skyline rises in bold geometry. Southward, the rugged coastline opens to windswept cliffs, secret beaches and the forested hush of Olympic National Park. Vineyards and orchards wind through the Columbia River, while Portland’s creative pulse hums amid bridges and forested hills. Inland, Mount Rainier towers over alpine meadows, glaciers and wildflower-scented trails, each vista a testament to the Pacific Northwest’s elemental beauty. 

Alaska unfolds in a tapestry of ice and water, its glaciers spilling into fjords and its peaks piercing a limitless northern sky. Coastal highways thread through tidal arms, while wildlife roams forests and valleys in serene abundance. Floatplanes and Jeeps reveal hidden corners of the Chugach, Denali and Harding Ice Field, each scene more expansive than the last. Villages, from Homer’s harbour to Talkeetna’s riverside allure, offer a human counterpoint to the wild grandeur. Every turn, ascent and glide evokes the state’s elemental beauty and untamed spirit. 

From Anchorage’s jagged peaks to Valdez’s fjord-like inlets, this journey threads through Alaska’s soaring mountains, glacial rivers and wilderness corridors. Tidewater glaciers and crystal-blue ice fields sparkle beside sleepy towns steeped in gold-rush shadows, while rivers and valleys reveal the rhythms of life in the far north. Floatplane vistas, jetboat rushes and Arctic Circle skies offer glimpses of untamed grandeur, as forests, wildlife and alpine streams weave a tapestry of pristine beauty. Each day emerges with the hushed majesty of the Last Frontier. 

Discover Alaska from the comfort of the GoldStar Railcar, your carriage the ultimate vantage point for admiring this land of extremes. As you ride, fjords open to the Pacific, river valleys unfurl beneath snow-streaked summits and tundra rolls into horizons that seem without end. Each journey becomes a moving panorama, linking frontier towns with wilderness lodges, quiet bays with roaring glaciers. The drama of ice and mountain is matched by moments of intimacy – watching a bear turn stones on a tidal flat, or sharing stories beneath the fading northern light.